Tuesday Plenary

Tuesday, July 24, 2018: 10:30am – 12pm, Westin Harbour Convention Center, Harbour Ballroom

Freshwater connectivity in an era of global change

Irena Creed, Canada Research Chair, Watershed Sciences, Professor, Western University, Department of Biology

Irena Creed is Executive Director of the School of Environment & Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan, and was the Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Watershed Sciences until June 2017. Dr. Creed is an ecosystem scientist. She works on developing conceptual models, as well as the scientific and practical tools needed to challenge these models and determine the consequences of human modification on Earth. Dr. Creed’s research group, together with collaborators from government, industry and an international network of scientists, studies the impacts of global change (climate change, atmospheric pollution, and land use/land cover change) on ecosystem structure, function and services. 

Julian Olden, Professor, University of Washington, Freshwater Ecology Conservation Lab

Julian Olden is the H. Mason Keeler Endowed Professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington. Broadly motivated by a future where people recognise and respect the diverse values provided by functioning freshwater ecosystems, Julian seeks to integrate science-based approaches with on-the-ground management and conservation decisions. His research focuses the challenges associated with water resource management, dams, invasive species and climate change. Julian actively engages in generating and communicating science, and believes that uncensored discussions are essential to meet the environmental challenges of the future and to strengthen the modern conservation movement.

Jake Vander Zanden, Director, Center for Limnology, Professor, University of Wisconsin, Integrative Biology

Jake Vander Zanden is currently the Director of the Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin – Madison. His research has focused on developing a more holistic understanding of lake food webs that includes benthic pathways and linkages among habitats and ecosystems. On the applied side, his research includes efforts to understand and predict the spread and impact of aquatic invasive species in inland waters. His current research is focused on lakes in Wisconsin, though he has also worked on aquatic ecosystems around the world. Jake has trained > 35 graduate students and postdocs, authored >130 peer-review publications, and has won numerous awards. He did his undergraduate degree in Geography and his PhD in Biology at McGill University in Montreal, and held a Smith Postdoctoral Fellowship at
University of California-Davis.

Moderated by Marie-Josee Fortin, University of Toronto, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Marie-Josée Fortin is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Spatial Ecology.  She is recognized internationally as a leader in spatial ecology with expertise in network theory to address both fundamental and applied research to conserve biodiversity and maintain species dispersal in fragmented landscapes. She pioneered the field of spatial ecology and contributed to numerous analytical methods. She was awarded the 2013 Distinguished Landscape Ecologist Award and the 2014 Highly Cited Researchers from Thomson Reuters in Ecology/Environment. She has more the 200 publications.